The move to seek the Labour nomination – which would make the winner odds on favourite to win the metro mayor race May 2017 and a job which will oversee £900m of public services across Merseyside and Halton under a 30-year devolution deal – pits the Walton MP head to head against Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson.

Wavertree MP Luciana Berger has also said she will consider putting herself forward for the role.

Although the Mayor has yet to formally put forward his nomination Joe Anderson has made no secret of his desire for the job.

Mr Rotheram said that whatever the result he “will work closely with Joe in the future” and added: “It’s not a thing that we would all want to fall out over.”

It has been widely expected that if Mayor Anderson won the metro mayor nomination and was elected next May he would resign as city Mayor and the council would revert to having a leader, as in other local authorities in Merseyside.

If Mr Rotheram won the Labour nomination he said it was be “up to Joe” whether he remained Mayor of Liverpool.

Mr Rotheram said: “If elected as metro mayor would concentrate on the administration I run and it’s for Joe to decide what his future would be, whether it’s as leader of the city council or whether he continues to be Mayor.”

Mr Rotheram also said he would resign his parliamentary seat “as soon as feasible” if elected to be metro mayor, and said he had spoken to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn about his decision to stand for the local government post.

Currently Mr Rotheram is Corbyn’s Parliamentary Private Secretary and he said the Labour leader would not be endorsing any candidates, but added: “On a personal level he is supportive of what I want to do.”

Mr Rotheram a former councillor, cabinet member and Lord Mayor of Liverpool, was elected as Walton MP in 2010.

Mr Rotheram said two issues “that spring to mind immediately” are housing and training and said if elected he would focus on “not just building new homes but homes that are abandoned – grot spots – bringing them back into use for people to live in”.

He also said he wants to see a “gold standard of apprenticeships” and plans to look ahead at major infrastructure proposals and ensure young people are trained to take advantage of the work they will create.

Around 10,000 Labour members across Merseyside and Halton will choose the Labour candidate in a process that ends in August.